Need to apply for a free government cell phone? Well, here are some steps on how you can get it:

Step 1: Check your eligibility

Before you apply for your free government cell phone, make sure that you are eligible for it. There are two types of people that are eligible for this program. The first are those who already avail of Federal or State assistance programs. The second are those whose total household income level is lesser than that of the respective State’s minimum limit.

Step 2: Search for companies in your state

Check which companies are partners with the LifeLine project and offer free government cell phones. While the LifeLine project specifies certain parameters to be followed, the offerings vary with each company.

Step 3: Research, research, and some more research

Find out more about the companies that are a part of the free government cell phone program. Research some more about the plans they offer as well as the kind of phone you will receive. Some companies may only offer feature phones while some may offer a refurbished Android phone. Check out the company’s website, get its contact details, and speak to the customer service there. Remember, once you enroll with a certain company, you will have to stay there for a minimum of one year.

Step 4: Enroll

Now that you are eligible and have even found the company of your choice, it is time to enroll for your free government cell phone. While you have the option of enrolling by phone or online, it is much easier to go with the online option. Through this, you will also be able to upload your documentation with ease.

Step 5: The wait

Congratulations! You have just enrolled for your very own free government cell phone service. Now all you have to do is wait for it to be delivered to your home. You should be able to receive your phone within a week or maybe more. Most companies have different delivery times, so be sure that you know the approximate time when your phone will reach home.

Get connected to the rest of the world with the above steps.

It is not very uncommon to find missed call alerts from unknown numbers on your mobile phone. While most people do not bother to find out who called, there are several others who try to look up these numbers just to be sure that they haven’t missed an important call.

Other times you may want to get in touch with someone or a business, but don’t have the phone number. You will have to look up the person’s number online as there are several online directories with which you may find the contact details of the person or business you want.

While looking for a person’s cell phone number online by using the name and location is loosely termed as cell phone lookup; looking up for cell phone listings based on just the cell phone number is termed as reverse cell phone lookup.

These lookup services are especially helpful if you are getting several unnecessary calls that may be harassing in nature. If you are getting these calls on your cell phone, then it becomes very easy as compared to situations when you get these calls on a landline. Not all landlines have a caller ID and in such a case you will have to get a caller ID installed. Hence, the best option is to get a cell phone number as these already have inbuilt caller IDs and a new number would mean that person making the unwanted calls will not get access to it.

There are both free and paid cell phone lookup services. There are several perks of performing a free cell phone lookup online.

The paid cell phone lookup services may not be deemed reliable as they provide the listing only once you fill-in your financial and personal details. Sharing such sensitive information on the wrong website can be risky and leave you vulnerable to phishing.

These free cell phone lookups especially help get people connect to loved ones with whom they might have lost touch. There are several lookup services available online and it is up to you when it comes to narrowing down.

It has become very easy to lookup for a person or a number online. One of the popular searches made online is for listings belonging to particular numbers. This method of looking up people using a cell phone number only is called reverse lookup as compared to other cell phone lookup practices which are used for looking up a person’s cell phone number using details like name and address.

Looking up cell phone numbers and their listings have become very common and easy as there is a number of online number directories where one can find associated listings for a number. While most of these are free, there are several websites that won’t give you the results without a small fee.

Let us talk about why you should not pay for cell phone lookup services online. If you make a non-specific search for cell phone directories online, then the results will bring up both paid as well as free services. So if you are not willing to pay for looking up the cell phone numbers than you need to specifically search for free online cell phone directory.

If you are asked to share your credit card or other financial information online on websites that lookup cell phone numbers, it is always a good idea to stay away from these. A lot of the times these websites are unreliable and sharing your financial and personal details can put you at a risk. And most of the times, these websites will have the same information as the free cell phone lookup websites. The information that such paid service websites offer can easily be dug up online.

Now if any of these free resources do not seem to help you and you really need to know perform a cell phone lookup, then you should always check the authenticity of the website that is asking you to pay for the information. One of the best ways to do so is to check whether their contact number and email ID mentioned on the site are correct and responsive.

Today, with the help of mobile technology a number of American businesses are able to go virtual with much ease. This means loads of savings on rents, bills, mortgages, maintenance costs, etc.

However, while you are saving quite a bit of bucks on these overheads, compromise on customer service is a total no-no. This means that whether virtual or not, customers would expect top-notch service from your business. And why not? After all, the customer is king. The first impression is, more often than not, the last impression, and sometimes, that all starts with a simple “hello.” This is where the importance of a virtual office phone answering service comes into play. Also known as a virtual receptionist (VR), this service is nothing but the job of a telephone operator that has been outsourced. So, while you are operating from anywhere in the world, your VR answers the phone ever so politely, making customers believe that it is your office premises they have made a call to.

What does a virtual answering service do?

Your virtual office phone answering service performs a number of tasks like answering calls, taking messages, virtual phone number forwarding, handling emergency calls, etc. Apart from this, most VR’s also have access to the Internet that would help solve your customer’s queries in real time and even answer FAQ’s should they have access to your company’s database.

But how does a VR help you reduce business costs?

A virtual office phone answering service helps reduce your business costs by saving on the salary you would normally pay a receptionist. A full-time receptionist would easily cost you anywhere between USD 10 to USD 20 for 160 hours of work, i.e. 4 weeks of work, broken down into 8 hours per day. A VR would cost you barely 12 cents to a dollar for 720 hours of work per month (Yes, a virtual office phone answering service operates 24/7!). So, no matter how big or small your business is, hiring a VR can certainly help you save some big bucks!

The world is very soon becoming a virtual platform and so are the businesses. A number of businesses today operate virtually; they don’t hire a particular office premise, but instead, take up co-working spaces and operate from these spaces with the help of mobile technologies like cell phones and laptops. Doing so saves businesses thousands of dollars each year on rent, taxes, bills, and other such expenses.

And this is where a virtual office phone answering service, also known as a virtual receptionist(VR) comes into play. Here, calls are outsourced to a company that hires a number of receptionists to handle calls for different companies, virtually. The receptionist doesn’t sit in your office premises, obviously, because you don’t have one, but answers the call in such a way as though she is answering the call right from your very own office premise. These receptionists are professionally trained in taking messages, virtual phone number forwarding, call patching, diary management, taking orders, and managing emergency call responses.

Hiring a virtual office phone answering service costs just about a fraction of what it would cost to hire a full-time receptionist. While a VR costs anywhere between USD 100 and USD 800 per month, a full-time receptionist costs about $USD 2,500 per month, for about 40 hours of work per week. That is a huge difference! Also, a virtual office phone answering service is available 24 hours of the day to take calls, as compared to full time receptionist who works about 8 hours a day. That is a difference of 22 long hours.

Thus, to put it simply, a virtual office phone answering service helps businesses save loads of money. Not just that, a VR also gives any business, be it small or big, an impression of professionalism. So whether you are operating out of your home or a co-working space, there shall certainly be a professional air about your business. And when someone calls, they won’t know where you are actually operating from, but instead be answered by a polite, well-spoken receptionist, who is actually your very own virtual office phone answering service.

The life of any business depends on its customer satisfaction. A satisfied customer ends up coming back to you again and again. But, what does it take to make a satisfied customer? Well, a number of factors. But the first and most important factor is customer service. It is always nice to have a dedicated telephone number for your business that customers may always reach you on. It becomes your identity and makes for great customer service!

We are here to present you with five of the best business phones that can help your organization scale heights.

• Grasshopper

Known to be one of the best business phone service in the American market, Grasshopper is not just professional but also a very stylish and up-to-date small business phone service. With business plans that start from just USD 9.95, with a USD 25 one-time activation charge, Grasshopper offers you a 30-day money-back trial.

• RingCentral

Perfect for small businesses, RingCentral is a VOIP service that offers you the option of unlimited fax and phone calls from your device. Again, these guys have a 30-day trial and if you aren’t happy with their services, they offer you a money back guarantee. They have plans that start from about USD 49.99 per month that come with 1000 toll-free minutes.

• Phone.com

A leader among the best business phones for small businesses, Phone.com does not offer a free trial but comes with some amazing features like a 24/7 service that offers customers great flexibility and freedom. Its plans start at USD 9.88 per month.

• OneBox

This is a virtual phone service that comes with some superb features. But, what makes for their USP is their option of a live receptionist that adds a personal touch to any business. Their plans start at about USD 49.95 per month and USD 170 if you choose the live receptionist option.

• EVoice

With a 6-month free trial package, EVoice makes sure that they turn every prospective client into a full-fledged customer. Not only is this one of the best business phones service in the market, they also offer a gamut of services like voicemail, texting, toll-free number options, music on hold, and call routing facilities.

So, take your pick and create a friendly and approachable front for all your business interactions.

Any businessman will agree with the fact that whether you have a small business or big, one’s customer service has to be impeccable and up to the mark. While you may choose to employ lesser staff, work virtually, run a one-man-show, hire a virtual assistant, or whatever suits your needs best, customer service is something that cannot and must not be tampered with at any cost. Speaking of that, customer service generally starts with communication and for that, a good phone service is not just essential, but also the first point of communication.

A lot of small business face problems with their customer service. However, with the right kind of assistance from the best business phone, this problem can soon become a thing of the past. We have put together a list of a few good business service phones to help you with this.

• 8X8

This is one of the best small business phone services available today. It is one of the top cloud-hosted phone systems. Apart from this, it is easy to use and comes with a variety of useful features. Some of their services are also offered under the brand Packet8.

• Ooma

Ooma is known to be one of the best business phone service providers for tiny businesses or businesses that are still in their teething stage. This provider offers a traditional desktop option as well as a virtual option, allowing its customers the choice of working with whichever option suits them the best.

• Mitel

MiCloud by Mitel is one of the best business phone services over the cloud for small-sized businesses. Since it is supported by the cloud, employees are able to work from wherever they wish to while still having access to their company’s telephone system.

• RingCentral

This one’s earned itself the repute of being one of the best virtual phone systems in the American market. Again, this service is ideal for organizations and their employees who operate remotely.

Now that you have an idea of some of the best phones for small businesses, we hope you are able to make the best choice!